meanwhile, rescue crews say the plane has made the home too unstable to keep searching through the wreckage. >> the plane is still in the house. the house is still slightly unstable. and once we get it stable then we'll be able to go inside. >> reporter: crews will now have to wait for the crash to be cleaned up before residents will be allowed to return home. frances kuo, nbc news. our other top story this hour, guilty verdicts for two high school football stars in a rape case built on social media. investigators say it doesn't mean the case is closed. trent mays and ma'lik richmond broke down after being convicted of raping the girl. the state's attorney general says a grand jury will meet next month to see if others should be charged in the case. >> this community needs assurance that no stone has been left unturned in our search for

the truth. >> the teens are now heading to jail possibly until they're 21. nbc's ron allen has a look now at the case that captivated an ohio town and the nation. >> many of the things we learned during this trial that our children were saying and doing were profane, were ugly. >> reporter: as the judge read the guilty verdicts, trent mays and ma'lik richmond embraced relatives and cried openly. the victim was not in the courtroom when the ruling was read. for the first time since that august night of heavy drinking and party hopping captured in these images that spread across social media, both boys apologized. >> i would truly like to apologize. to the family and the community. >> reporter: richmond spoke directly to the victim's family. >> i had no intention to do it. and i'm sorry to put you guys through this.

but i'd just like to -- >> reporter: the victim's mother responded in an audiotape. >> this does not define who my daughter is. she will persevere, grow and move on. i have pity for you both. i hope you repent for your actions and pray hard for his forgiveness. >> reporter: in court lawyers and parents pleaded with the judge not to impose a harsh sentence. prosecutors insist the victim had been humiliated and treated like a toy. on the witness stand, she admitted drinking heavily at a party, then waking up the following morning with no clothes on and with no idea what happened. she texted mays. why the expletive would you let that happen? seriously, you have no expletive respect. her attorney after the verdict. >> she's happy that this is over today. she's probably fearful about going to school monday, tuesday, wednesday. >> that was nbc's ron allen. republican unrest among the hierarchy.

a political war of words between karl rove and sarah palin. at this weekend's cpac, former alaska governor sarah palin suggested that political architects like rove who lost elections in 2012 should get out of the business or run for office themselves. >> the architect can head on back to -- [ applause ] he can head on back to the great lone star state and put their name on some ballot. >> rove wasted no time going after palin. >> i don't think i'm a particularly good candidate, sort of a balding fat guy. second of all, i would say if i did run for office and win i would serve out my term. i wouldn't leave office midterm. >> perhaps alluding to the fact that palin resigned her governorship midway through the first term in office. pope francis completed his first sunday as pontiff with his

signature down-to-earth style. he started the day greeting crowds before leaving mass at st. peter's. he then went into the crowd catching his security detail off guard. hundreds of thousands poured into st. peter's square and erupted into cheers when their new pope stepped to the window to give his blessing which he closed with a casual "enjoy your afternoon. enjoy a good lunch." vice president joe biden arrived in italy yesterday ahead of tomorrow's inauguration mass of pope francis. in an nbc news exclusive, we've learned of a cyber attack on the voting system in florida. officials are quick to point out that the breach was unsuccessful but do say it raises many issues on security. the case stems from bogus requests from more than 2,500 absentee ballots for the august 14th primary in miami-dade county. it's not clear whether the requests were an attempt to sway the election, test the system or just interfere with voting.

either way experts say the incident exposes danger in putting states voting online. the full article is at nbcnews.com. meanwhile in israel in the west bank, preparations are under way for the arrival of president obama. on wednesday mr. obama will make his first trip to the region as president. crews in jerusalem have been hanging up u.s. flags. the luxurious king david hotel is getting ready to receive the president and his entourage. they have been finalizing special dishes and anticipating any possible requests. and now for a look at your monday weather. meteorologist bill karins is here. i guess the word of the day is jet stream. >> there's a huge storm off the west coast. it gives us one decent day. the exception up in the northwest. a little tiny storm coming up through southern british columbia bringing showers. a little snow at the high elevations. we're watching that moving down through. you can see headed towards bellingham, light rain showers for you and on the coast. this big storm winding itself up off the coastline here.

there's a big, huge moisture plume all the way near hawaii up around this storm. there's a lot of moisture with it but not too much of it is going to move on shore. again, we're good today. we should be all right. you may notice high clouds increasing in areas of northern california and oregon during the day today. the expected rainfall is more towards tonight and then during the day tomorrow. and nothing too blockbuster. this is over the next 48 hours. and these darker greens are maybe about an inch of rain. and right on the oregon/washington border, maybe a little highlight there. from san francisco southward, maybe a couple showers at most in the san francisco area. south of there should be pretty dry. today's forecast, we showed you the rain from seattle northwards. dry everywhere else. a lot more clouds around during the middle of this week. temperatures getting up into the mid-70s. enjoy.

a lot of us around the entire country would pay for some mid-70s. >> we would take that definitely, no doubt. flying blind, knives allowed back on planes and now over 170 traffic control towers face closure. stocks take a big hit overnight. this $10 million roller coaster is for you along with its world record-setting drop. "early today" is back in two.

welcome back. stories making news for you. later today, president obama will officially nominate tomas perez to be the next secretary of labor. he currently heads the civil rights division and would be the only hispanic in the president's second-term cabinet if confirmed. police in india say five men have confessed to raping a swiss tourist. two more suspects are being sought here. in canada, a daring escape from a quebec prison when two inmates suspended by cables flew to freedom at least temporarily.

within hours police located the chopper and captured one of the men along with two other suspects. authorities saying the second fugitive was arrested overnight. the faa is expected to make a final decision today on closing some air traffic control towers. 173 towers are on the chopping block as a result of the sequester. boy or will? william and kate have different preferences and are apparently split when it comes to the gender of their baby due to july. the duchess told a guard during a medals ceremony that she would like a boy while prince william wants a girl. and some of the most iconic images in green to celebrate st. patrick's day. sydney's famed opera house, pyramids, leaning tower of pisa as well as the christ the redeemer statue in rio. the chicago river dyed green as did the fountain at the white house. as stocks come off last week's record run, will new eurozone concerns hurt at home? stocks tumbled across asia today

on the eu's unprecedented decision to dip into the savings of depositors in cyprus to keep the country out of bankruptcy. investors worldwide are worried if passed, the 10% tax could set a precedent for future eurozone bailouts. a new report points to china's rapidly growing budget to develop modern warfare equipment. for the first time a new tally finds china has become the world's fifth largest arms exporter, knocking britain out of the top five. the u.s. is number one followed by russia, germany and france. elsewhere, at&t starts selling the all new make-or-break blackberry smartphone. yoga athletic line, lulu lemon weighs in on thursday. tiffany & company weighs in friday, the luxury jewelry has sparkled recently despite missing earnings estimates three quarters in a row. another fire on deck, darden restaurants. that company missed last quarter's estimates.

investors are still hungry for the red lobster and olive garden parent. a rise in sharing as coworkers watch college basketball's march madness games. more on who's headed to the big dance coming up in sports. just ahead, texas has one less bridge to worry about. and a $24,000 hoax with the girl scouts as the main target. "early today" back after these messages.

now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we start in pennsylvania where a tragic charter bus crash left two dead and 19 injured. the bus carrying 23 members of seton hill university women's lacrosse team veered off the turnpike and crashed into a tree. one of the team coaches on board was killed. she was pregnant with her second child. a memorial service was held on campus on sunday. in south carolina, a brush fire quickly grew out of hand spreading to nearby apartments and homes saturday evening. strong winds and low humidity fed the out-of-control flames. 26 apartment and condo buildings were destroyed, displacing hundreds of residents. a bridge in texas came tumbling down this weekend. the department of transportation imploded the bridge over the colorado river saturday making way for two new bridges in its place. in portland, a group of girl scouts got an order too good to be true for 6,000 boxes of cookies. it turned out to be a prank call, leaving the girls with a

bill for $24,000. the community responded with an outpouring of support. hundreds lined up hoping to buy all of the extra goodies. and in branson, missouri, a one of a kind roller coaster is breaking all kinds of records with a 16-story drop. the outlaw run is the steepest wooden coaster in the world coming in at $10 million. it's touted as the second fastest wooden coaster in the world and only one to include barrel rolls. a little dizzy there watching that. let's take you to sports now. the seeds for the ncaa tournament are in. louisville, gonzaga, indiana and kansas got number one seeds. before the selections, miami won the atlantic coast conference beating north carolina 87-77. the hurricanes are seeded number two in the east region and ohio state captured the big ten tournament holding off wisconsin 50-43. the buckeyes are seeded number two in the west region. first round of the tournament begins tuesday with liberty facing north carolina and middle tennessee state against st. mary's.

wednesday, liu brooklyn plays james madison, and boise state faces la salle. the second round games will be played thursday and friday. it's going to be a fun one. in the nba, miami's ray allen hit for 16 points in the fourth quarter alone and 20 overall as the heat won their 22nd game in a row 108-91. that ties the heat for the second best win streak in league history. greek soccer player giorgos katidis has been banned for life from all greek national teams after giving what appeared to be a nazi salute after winning match. he said he would not have done it if he had known what it meant. "early today sports" is brought to you by just for men mustache & beard." just ahead, "forbes" reveals the most powerful celebrities in the world. we'll tell you who's number one. our watching "early today."

welcome back. hope you had a wonderful weekend. let me get you out the door with your forecast. the umbrellas can be left home today. everyone that is south of washington state. if you're in coastal washington state, you need the umbrella with showers. especially seattle north wards. everyone else is dry. the big ocean storm, some of that moisture will spread towards california. we definitely increase the clouds just about everywhere. even down around l.a. showers in san francisco northwards. not heavy rain, but will be a little gloomier than what we've experienced lately. >> do we get spring this week or next week? >> week.

>> this is the week. "oz the great and powerful" and the rest of the box office. the "wizard of oz" prequel with a $42 million haul. "the call" did better than expected with $17 million. and steve carell's "burt wonderstone" flopped with $10 million making it one of the worst debuts ever for the comedian. cnn newsman anderson cooper was honored this weekend and celebrated, yeah, he did that. he planted a big awkward kiss on madonna. yeah. i don't know if i want to see that one again. the material girl presented the award to cooper dressed as a boy scout. ryan seacrest and actress julianne hough have called it quit after more than two years of dating. the stars decided they needed time apart and are longer living together. that might explain why huff had $100,000 worth of jewelry just sitting in her car last week when it was stolen.

finally, the "forbes" list of most influential celebrities is officially out and includes steelberg, ron howard and george lucas. but the number one spot went to none other than oprah winfrey. dr. oz up there, too, you know, one of her proteges. >> really? dr. oz. >> number six. >> everyone else was kind of expected. >> you were there. you were number five, i think. >> 500. 5 million. >> it finally happened, right? we've got something to tell you about in addition to the "early today" family. yes, veronica de la cruz gave birth to a beautiful baby. she was getting big, too. >> careful. >> 8 pounds, 4 ounces. veronica tells us her and baby are doing just great. congratulations, veronica. you're watching "early today."

the lead story this morning in "the new york times," ruled a threat to family but allowed to keep guns. in some states the right to own a gun trumps orders of protection including domestic violence cases. and in "the washington post," despite sanctions, toll on iran, u.s. sees no shift in nuclear behavior. nine months later the toughest sanctions ever placed on iran still have not pushed their economy to unrest that would lead to collapse. spring arrived earlier in tokyo. it's a sight for our winter weary eyes. cherry blossom blooming ten days ahead of schedule. the annual symbol of new beginnings and fresh starts arrived early this year thanks to a remarkably warm march. it's the earliest sighting since 2002. looks great. and closer to home, a good time during a day of peace, paws and music. thousands of canines and their companions came out to the weekend woofstock fair in the florida keys. the event is held to promote dog

adoptions and these pups put on their best showing, chasing, racing, jumping and splashing for the cameras. i might adopt one, too, after seeing these guys. don't try this at home or anywhere else for that matter. you would think flying through the air in wing suits is dangerous enough by itself, but two daredevils took it to a new level. the pair well known for high risk jumps. the pair are well known for their high-risk jumps. that's scary, man. couldn't you be off by a couple feet and -- >> yeah, you don't want to be the highlight of an epic fail reel. the time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. today the u.s. supreme court is head to hear arguments over arizona's controversial law requiring residents approve citizenship before registering to vote in national elections. lindsay lohan is scheduled to appear in an l.a. courtroom to begin trial. the actress pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanors stemming

from a car accident on a california highway last june. she's accused of lying to police at the scene, claiming to be a passenger in the car when she was actually a rooifr. and happy birthday to maroon 5 front man and coach of "the voice," adam levine. he turns 34 today. a look at the groundbreaking role social media played in the conviction of two defendants in the steubenville rape case and actor nicholas cage talks about getting prehistoric in his new movie. keep it on this channel for continuing news, weather and sports. i'm lisp ard i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thank you for watching "early today," just the first stop of the day on your nbc station. have a great start to the week.

a family and community is in mourning after a crash at a speedway that killed two people, including a 14-year-old boy. facing the music. a politician gets ready to answer to charges he misused funds the pope getting ready for inauguration. we give you a live look outside. it is still dark out there. that is fraens. you can see the top of the transamerica building. this is "today in the bay." it is 4:31. good morning.

i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia cannon. >> let's check the forecast with meteorologist, christina loren, good monday morning. good monday morning. the rain moves in. don't let it get passed you. temperatures are crispier in the 30s and 40s. 40 degrees in livermore. 39 in knnava doe. grab a jacket to peel off by noon. i notice a lot more company on the roads this morning. probably has something to do with st. patrick's day. or the christina fan club. it is looking great. no problems, nothing unusual for 880. coming off of 880 and heading to the peninsula, it was gusty but we are watching the